Why Bush Troubles?
By Will Tinney
 The low approval rating for President George W. Bush is due not only to healthcare and the prescription drug bill, much less than some government investigation into gasoline price gouging, suggested in Don Devine's recent editorial, "Should Conservatives 'Get over It'"?
Mostly, the president’s low poll numbers are due to the following:
- President Bush reined in former Justice Department lawyer Theodore Olsen when he was arguing before the Supreme Court against affirmative action in the two Michigan University cases. Olsen was not allowed to make the full argument against affirmative action and therefore one of the two cases (the Law School case) kept affirmative action alive and kicking today.
- President Bush bucked a huge conservative majority support for walls at the border, returning illegals to their respective nations, and not allowing for amnesty or ANY amnesty-like programs. His conservative base supports all the policies stated above at 90+ percent and the general population supports those same approaches by 70 to 80 percent.
- President Bush did not use the weight and fervor of the President's bully pulpit to get the Marriage Protection Amendment added to the U.S. Constitution.
- President Bush's administration signed into law changes in bankruptcy rules that make it harder for individuals to claim bankruptcy but did not rein in the bigger culprits of bankruptcy: companies and corporations. This seemed to be a slap in the face to the little guy but support for companies and corporations that cost this country billions annually to bail out.
- President Bush has not realized that even with so-called poor poll numbers, he is an asset to the party and should be in campaign mode stumping for all Governor, House and Senate Republican candidates. By doing this, not only would he be helping the campaigns of Republican incumbents and challengers but also his numbers would improve as he would be seen in person by many people who might react positively to some personal contact. Right now there seems to be too much distance between the grassroots and the White House.
Will Tinney is an assistant professor of sociology at Black Hills State University.
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